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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. degree — an amount
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. spell — magic
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. drill — a practice
  8. rush — hurry
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. spell — a short time
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. season — in sport
  14. drill — army training
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — from a university
  17. spell — letters
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. season — of the year
  21. row — to paddle
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. drill — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com